The Perfume Making Podcast

This week on the show Karen is joined by Viola Levy, journalist, founder of branding agency ‘Smart, Beauty Creative” and host of the Smart Beauty podcast, a show for beauty business owners who are looking to hone their brand voice. Getting the story of your brand and your products right is essential, and can be the difference between success and failure. That’s why, in this interview, Viola and Ka...

After receiving a couple of emails from people who were reluctant to join Karen’s online workshops because they were to be hosted on Facebook, Karen has been inspired to produce an episode on social media. Whilst social media is ever present in our lives and can be seen to have negative effects on our health and wellbeing, if you use it correctly, it can be an extremely powerful tool for business....

Running a successful perfume business doesn’t just require someone who can blend materials to create a sweet scent, or someone who can market effectively. A truly successful perfume business also requires someone with the right mindset. That’s why, this week on the show, Karen is taking a break from regular programming and presenting an interactive episode designed to change your mindset. With exe...

Karen recently received an email asking for her advice on launching a perfume brand. However, the author of the email had only given themselves a 6 month deadline to get everything ready to launch. Karen’s instant reaction - “This is not enough time.” Perfume making is not just a science, it’s an art. And, like all art, it can’t be rushed. In this episode, Karen doubles down on the importance of t...

This week Karen is joined by Liz Grech, an alumni of Karen’s Artisan Perfumery Mastermind course and founder of Olentium, a perfume brand based in Malta. Liz started her career as a journalist before the birth of her son unexpectedly moved her into the world of fragrance. In this interview with Karen, she discusses her career trajectory, how it takes time to find your voice, what you can do as an...

This week on the show, Karen is taking a break from regular programming and presenting you all with a diary-style episode after spending the last week thinking about staying in alignment with your actions, not just in business, but in life. In this episode Karen covers what it means to stay true to your values and creative goals, the importance of avoiding the shoulds, and her top tips for achievi...

This week marks the fourth and final part of Karen’s mini-series on fragrance families. And, she’s ending the series with one of the most important families - Fougere. Created over a century ago, Fougere has had an immense impact on the perfume industry, from its pioneering use of synthetics to its worldwide appeal with the launch of ‘Brut’. In this episode, Karen tells you all you need to know ab...

Continuing her deep dive into fragrance families, this week sees Karen delving into the world of Amber fragrances. Known for their warmth, richness, and versatility, amber fragrances have remained incredibly popular from their inception in ancient Egypt to the modern day. Unique in their makeup and with an incredible number of variations, there is a lot to learn about amber fragrances. In this epi...

Karen is continuing her in-depth look at different fragrance families. This week, she’s taking a look at the misunderstood Chypre family. Created in 1917, the chypre family of fragrances has never been considered the best or most popular but has stood the test of time, and the family continues to grow with new subcategories being added year on year. In this episode, Karen details everything you ne...

This week Karen is continuing her series on fragrance families, looking at floral families. The largest and most varied family in fragrance production, florals have stood the test of time and are as popular today as they ever were. From key notes to the difference between soliflore and floral bouquets and a breakdown of some of the most popular notes, Karen covers everything you need to know about...

This week Karen is starting a new mini series, looking at each of different fragrance families. And, to start, she’s looking at one of her personal favorites, Citrus. In this jam packed show Karen covers what materials go into a citrus fragrance, the right notes to add to make your scent last longer, key regulations to understand and the interesting history of citrus fragrances. And, on top of all...

This week Karen is joined by Kelly Colman, an award winning product expert. After developing and selling her own cosmetics products, Kelly now helps other entrepreneurs find their niche and sell their products on Amazon. Surprisingly, most people don’t consider the possibility of selling on Amazon for various reasons, such as the high levels of competition or fear or altering the perception of the...

This week on the show, Karen is talking to Kyle Fearn of Redolescent Fragrances. Kyle created his first fragrance as a way to make an emotional connection with his boyfriend who was travelling across the world. This creation started Kyle on a journey of developing fragrances that would tell a story which people could integrate into their lives. Focusing on wellbeing and mental health, Kyle’s fragr...

On this week's show, I'm joined by Ana Kaplan of Kaplan Communications, a PR company that works with beauty and holistic companies. Ana worked for a large PR company but increasingly felt like they didn’t match her values. So, during COVID-19, she took the brave move of leaving them behind and setting up her own company that has the unique approach of blending PR and marketing with holistic wellbe...

Get your calculators, beakers and bottles ready because this week Karen is tackling the often talked about subject of perfume math, or more simply, the basic calculations involved in creating and scaling up perfume formulations. The idea of perfume math can fill most first timers with dread, especially when considering ratios, scaling up and concentration equations. But, Miss. Gilbert is here to g...

This week’s show is inspired by a question Karen received from one of her listeners - “Can you give me your top tips on how to overcome the overwhelm of starting perfume making?”    This is a problem that most first timers encounter. That initial adrenaline rush of creating something new can easily be dampened when you start to dive into the world of perfume making and see just how big it is. But...

This week Karen is talking to Anne Onwusowulu, an alumni of Karen’s Artisan Perfume Mastermind course. Anne is the founder of fragrance company House of Purple Rose and, along with her husband John, runs a second company, the Skin and Hair Manufacturing Hub. However, both of Anne’s companies, and all the services they offer, were born out of personal tragedy or challenges she faced on her entrepre...

This week on the show Karen is joined by Michael Paul from Day 3 Fragrances. From childhood Michael was fascinated by magic. Supported by his father, he became a professional magician and toured the world. However, he would always turn to his hobby of perfumery when he was stuck. In time he realised that magic and perfumery were one and the same. During COVID his ability to perform magic ceased, a...

In this week's episode Karen is joined by Jaclyn Bellomo, a cosmetic industry professional with over a decade of experience in regulatory compliance. In the USA, up until now, the FDA has managed and maintained all fragrance industry regulations. However, the biggest overhaul in these regulations is about to occur with the introduction of  MOCRA. But these new regulations don’t just impact compani...

On this very special one year anniversary episode of the Perfume Making Podcast, Karen is joined by Micheal Edwards, author and founder of Fragrances of the World and author of "Fragrance Legends" and his latest book "American Legends" Micheal, who has worked in the fragrance industry for over 4 decades is the creator of one of the first classification systems for commercial fragrances, which is s...

This week on the show Karen is joined by Natalie Napoleon, a world renowned visual branding strategist and product photographer with over 25 years of experience. An expert at creating strong, unique visuals for brands, Natalie is always asked by indie brands “How can I compete with the big companies?” Luckily, that’s where Natalie’s passion lies. In this interview with Karen, Natalie is going to r...

This week on the show Karen is joined by Liz Moores, founder of Papillon Perfumery. When Liz started her brand she was taking a huge gamble. Self-taught, inexperienced and jumping into an already heavily populated marketplace, Liz’s view was “I’ve got nothing to lose.” If her venture didn’t work out, she was prepared to sell her initial batch of fragrances at a car boot sale to recoup her investme...

This week on the show Karen is giving a history lesson on the life and work of Jean Carles. Founder of the first ever perfumery school, today known as the Givaudan, and the father of the most influential method of perfume making, his influence is still felt far and wide in the perfume industry today. Jean Carles lived an incredible life, created some of the industries most iconic scents and influe...

Karen is in the process of writing a new book on the many challenges that await those who want to create perfumes or set up their own perfume business. Inspired by this, Karen has decided to go over eight of the most crucial points in this week's episode. Looking at some of the myths of the perfume industry, such as a need for a chemistry degree or the need for industry validation, as well as the...

This week on the show Karen is joined by one of her Artisan perfumery mastermind alumni, Earl Williams, founder of ESW Perfume Bar. Through Earl’s unique business he creates bespoke scents for private clients as well as hosting pop up perfume bars at public and private events. But what really sets Earl apart is his determination and drive to keep moving forward no matter how many times the chips a...